by Scott Jentsch

The School Board met May 9, 2022 at Orchard Lane Elementary School.

Board President Janet Schulz announced that there will be a meeting in June to do goal-setting as a Board (most likely the second meeting in June). She also mentioned that the first meeting in June will be preceded by a workshop session with the District attorney.

There was an update of the happenings at Orchard Lane, given by principal Royce Lindner, Associate Principal Julie Kader, and by Cooper, a sixth-grader at the school. Lindner presented slides about the school's literacy goals, and Kader presented information about their community goals, including efforts to meet the Social/Emotional needs of students. The presentation not only talked about what is working in the school and what goals they have achieved, but also the areas in which they hope to improve. This balance of both the good and the bad is a welcome sign, as it shows a willingness to be vulnerable and say that not everything is perfect, which isn't a realistic perspective to have if you're interested in constant improvement. Cooper talked about the school's High Interest Day and other activities that engaged the students and their families as a community.

A school tour was given, as they described how the school is virtually full, with just one room not being used for classes. A sensory path in one hallway allows students to manage their emotions and feelings. Also located in the hallways are SNAP boxes. SNAP stands for Students in Need of Assistance or Praise). These boxes allow students to identify fellow students that have done something good or that need some assistance with a difficulty.

Principal Royce Lindner conducting the school tour

 

There's too much to describe without making this overly verbose (something I'm often guilty of), so be sure to watch the entire presentation by watching the video starting at 24:54 (it goes through 48:11). It certainly seems that Orchard Lane students are learning in a positive and supportive environment, and kudos to all the adminstrators, staff, students, and families that make it possible!

New Berlin West Senior Emily Macakanja was recognized during the meeting for her service as the Student Representative to the School Board from New Berlin West. Not every teenager is comfortable talking with adults, much less talking to a group of them as well as the community at large, so Emily's contributions over the last two years are appreciated.

Committee Appointments

Committee Members were appointed at this meeting by president Janet Schulz:

• Finance Committee - Ron Seidl (chair), Krislyn Wondracheck, Janet Schulz
• Facilities Committee - Mitch Helmer (chair), Jeffrey Kurth, Renee Koneck
• Personnel Committee - Renee Koneck (chair), Amy Crosby, Janet Schulz

While it's good news that the Committees were not disbanded altogether (this was a concern I expressed to the Board, so I'm glad to see that they heeded my concern), some of the choices made were unfortunate.

The Finance Committee plays an important role for the School District, and I've attended quite a few in the past years. Krislyn Wondracheck did a great job as chair before being replaced last year by incoming Board member Ron Seidl. It's good to see that both are continuing, but it would have been nice to see the leadership roles exchanged for a more balanced approach.

Especially questionable is the choice of Mitch Helmer as chair of the Facilities Committee. This group is incredibly important to lead the District in the proper maintenance of its facilities and it's now in charge of overseeing budget expenditures for the first time in many years, but Mitch Helmer (as the previous chair) has not convened a Facilities Committee meeting since February 2021. Oddly enough, his first question in this meeting was if he could schedule a meeting before a planned goal-setting session of the Board. Given the long period of time since the last meeting was held (nearly 15 months), my answer would have been that he should have had several by now. I'm not holding my breath that we'll see one on the schedule any time soon, but when it is, I'll plan to be there (as I was for the last one).

I also question the wisdom of having a new Board member as the chair of any committee. When you have someone new to the organization, and who has only been to a handful of Board meetings at all, I would think it would be a good idea to give that person a chance to see how things are done and to develop relationships with the Board members and District staff members before putting them in a leadership role. Prevous Board member Kate Unger was instrumental in this role, so Koneck will have big shoes to fill. Time will tell how that works out. 

Administration Update - ESSER Funding

Superintendent Joe Garza updated the Board on the status of the ESSER federal relief funds, which are being allocated in three phases. Chief Financial Officer Patrick Miller stated that the District has received final allocations from the Department of Public Instruction. The funding amounts to approximately $3.5 million, with quite a bit of it that has to be used toward Evidence-Based Improvement Strategies (EBIS), which basically means that the funds need to be used to improve student learning. The funding has not yet been received by the District, but must be applied for, approved, and then disbursed to the District. Garza confirmed that none of the funding comes with any "strings" attached, beyond the requirement that the specified percentages must be applied to EBIS needs. This was a concern for some members of the Board in previous meetings for some reason, even though there was no evidence to support such concerns.

Board member Krislyn Wondrachek asked if there was a known reason why the Elmbrook School District was receiving more ESSER III funding per student than the School District of New Berlin. According to the May 16, 2022 allocation spreadsheet, Elmbrook is receiving $6.48 million in ESSER III funds (~$877 per student), while we are receiving $3.5 million (~$777 per student). Garza responded saying that he would have to get back to her on that, so it will be interesting to find out why the disparity exists.

Following is a chart of the funding per student for some area school districts:

	ESSER III Funding	# of students	Funding per Student
New Berlin	$ 3,496,071	4,498	$ 777.25
Elmbrook	$ 6,478,960	7,386	$ 877.19
Whitnall	$ 1,678,311	2,163	$ 775.92
Muskego-Norway	$ 3,918,242	4,940	$ 793.17
Waukesha	$ 10,794,859	12,282	$ 878.92
Mukwonago	$ 4,184,374	4,813	$ 869.39

May 23, 2022 Update: It's possible that the disparity comes from the number of low-incoming students. From the DPI website:

As required, DPI will calculate ESSER III allocations to LEAs using the 2020-21 Every Student Succeeds Act, Title I, Part A formula, which is based on the number and percentage of children from low-income families. 

Thanks to Sharon R. for pointing this out! If an official answer is provided by the School District, I'll add it as well.

 

In spite of the intent for the ESSER funds to be used for student learning, President Janet Schulz asked if the funding could be used to pay our debt and if it could be used to reduce the amount of the tax levy for next year. Garza responded that paying down further debt for a School District is not the same as a mortgage. Our debt is in the form of bonds that are callable (come due) at certain times. The next debt that is callable is in 2027, so we don't have the opportunity to do so until that time. He encouraged the Board to "sit on the money" until future budgets and state funding are better known. Keep in mind that our CFO has warned of a "funding cliff" coming in the next few years (see FY 2020-21 Financial Statements, page 16). I see this recommendation as a soft way of Mr. Garza trying to make sure that the Board doesn't spend this influx of funding because he knows that leaner times are ahead and we're going to need quite a bit of that money as a cushion to soften the blow of future budget woes.

The question was surprising given that it was coming from the Board president who has been on the Board for more than three years, and she should be aware of how our debt funding works and when the debt is callable (since that was the subject of a recent presentation and discussion). It's also disconcerting that she is advocating using funds that are available from the Federal Government so that School Districts may help students overcome the challenges of the pandemic in order to reduce debt incurred from past expenditures. Schulz campaigned on budget issues this Spring, so if she's not aware of how our debt works, did voters make a mistake in re-electing her?

How Could the ESSER Funding Be Used to Benefit our Students?

Garza mentioned that the new English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum would be paid for using the ESSER funding. I suggest that the District look at ways to support our students and teachers by making sure that classroom libraries have the necessary resources to supplement the new ELA curriculum that they will be learning this Fall. This is something that I discussed in April with a staff member when I was reviewing the curriculum before it was approved, and they recognized that classroom libraries would need to be updated to help match the topics and approaches in the new curriculum.

Given how the pandemic has impacted our students, there likely are many ways that some extra funding could be used to help our students be more successful as they progress through their learning journey in our schools. I'm sure that our teachers and staff have many ideas of how improvements could be made, supplemental programs implemented, and other ways that the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students could be improved.

Have they been asked?

Speaking of being asked about how to spend the ESSER funds, you may not be aware that School Districts are required to "provide opportunities for stakeholders to meaningfully and substantively contribute to their ESSER III Plan." (Source: DPI) I don't recall there being any kind of school family or community survey that would qualify for this requirement, so I asked Mr. Garza about that. He stated that they have provided links for people to provide feedback, and he mentioned that a majority of the feedback that he's received has been anecdotal mentions and not a result of a formal survey. He said that previous presentations have included links for the community to provide feedback, but I don't recall them, and I haven't found any yet. However, given the difficulty in sifting through every presentation and every document in the hopes of finding such a link, it's quite possible that I'm just not finding them. I'll ask a follow-up question by E-Mail and see if they can provide some examples.

Do you recall being asked by the School District how you would like to see our ESSER funds spent?

If so, please provide me with some references!

Last Updated: May 23, 2022

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